Low-temperature synthesis and characterization of (Zn,Ni)TiO3 ceramics by a modified sol–gel route

Hexagonal ilmenite-type (Zn1−xNix)TiO3 (x = 0, 0.85–1.0) ceramic powders were successfully synthesized by a sol–gel route with low temperature (800 °C) sintering, which was modified by using the two-step heat treatment so as to obtain pure products. The thermal stability of the hexagonal (Zn,Ni)TiO3 was enhanced with the increasing amount of nickel addition. FE-SEM observations demonstrated that the average crystallite sizes of (Zn1−xNix)TiO3 remarkably decreased from more than 200 nm to less than 100 nm with the increasing solubility x. The dielectric properties of (Zn1−xNix)TiO3 were measured at different frequencies and the results showed that there existed maximum values both for the dielectric constants and the loss tangents at x = 0.85.